Mentality bank

OUTLOOK, writes about variety of national features, tries, as far as it is possible, to help readers learn other cultures, for you to at least be prepared, should you happen to be in this or the other country. The notorious joke about the boxer and trousers edge spread around the world (its capable of reading part, at least) as far back as in 1980 the moment “Solo on Underwood” was published in New York...

There was boxing demonstrated

on television of Leningrad. Negro,

black as coal, was fighting a white-haired

Pole. Narrator explained:

- You can tell Negritic boxer by light-blue edges of his trousers…

Sergei Dovlatov

“Solo on Underwood. Solo on IBM”

The notorious joke about the boxer and trousers edge spread around the world (its capable of reading part, at least) as far back as in 1980 the moment “Solo on Underwood” was published in New York. Political correctness with elements of sarcasm. Then again, back in the times as well as nowadays, attempts to erase national and mental differences are an attribute of allegedly good manners. But it is in this abundance of world mentality bank stocks where the whole point, gist, gusto and charm lie! Outlook suggest you see for yourself how wonderfully different we all are.

Let's fancy ourselves on an international bus. The vehicle is full and people keep getting in and out so our place and respectively neighbors change all the time. Should we happen to sit by an American, in a couple of minutes we are almost sure to get a friendly smack on a shoulder and hear good-natured “Now, how do you like America?” This kind of “backslapping” is in their blood. Sociologists and culture studies experts believe that for citizens of the USA relations of choice are superficial acquaintances. Therefore it is very much possible that an accidental “neighbor” will share his intimate life details, the only thing is that he won’t even remember our names after saying goodbye.

Fine, an American goes, an Englishman takes his place. It is probably due to the use of the same (fairly) language, but stereotype makes Brits be perceived very much like “Yankees”. It is a huge mistake: with 95% probability a new neighbor won’t talk to you at all and 99% that he won’t touch you. According to outcomes of a special research, physical contact – a touch, a hug, a handshake – is connected directly to nation. Within an hour of communication Puerto-Ricans touched each other 180 times, Frenchmen – 110 times while Englishmen – not even once. Such reticence and morose manner aren’t merely a common event for the citizens of the kingdom. No, it is already in their blood. In order not to talk about uneasy or personal issues, they even came up with special phraseological withdrawals: interlocutors do not finish them – everything is clear anyway. For instance “ill winds” (blow nobody good) or “this ain’t no shower” (it’s a downpour). When something of the kind is said, the tone matters because it is it that reveals a person’s willingness to continue the talk.

Enough of the bus, let’s get off it. A Japanese is coming towards us. After an American’s backslapping we wink at him asking “How are you doing?” He answers with a smile: “Everything is fine, coming from my daughter’s funeral”. You shouldn’t think that an inhabitant of the Land of the Rising Sun is joking. Most likely, he did lose a child. His smile is a kind of a shield, a message that he is going to deal with his grief by himself and he doesn’t need anybody’s help. We walk another 10 meters to meet a Russian and ask once again the how-are-you question. Even if his daughter didn’t die, descendant of Peter the Great will either petulantly grumble something in a low voice, or look at you gloomily. It’s just that it isn’t customary in Russia to laugh without a reason. At that, there is always something to complain about.

We are hungry so we drop by the first café on our way that is filled with people of various nationalities. Frenchmen are to our left. They are rather arrogant and swear for no particular reason. When heaping unprintable words and phrases on each other they are merely… arguing. Napoleon’s descendants have a very short memory so don’t be surprised if one day you have a scrap with them and the next one they’ll invite you for a glass of red, as if nothing had happened.

Englishmen sitting nearby behave much differently. Attempting not to make to much fuss, they will most likely remain expressly polite and smiling and later will simply place you into their own black list should your behavior seem a slightest bet wrong from their point of view.

Japanese table is one of the noisiest. And it isn’t about conversation at all. Simply food in our café is very delicious and in order to show it the Japanese chew and smack with relish. Not only do they do it at home but also in public places. Among them it isn’t customary to verbally praise a chef – it is much more important to eat “loudly”. The Chinese are on the same page with them about it. Multiple belching of guests is the best compliment for the mistress.

When back from hypothetical situations to the real world do not forget that even same gestures are read in a different way in every place. For instance, raised eyebrows mean surprise in Russia, amazement in Germany and show of skepticism in the UK. “Okay” composed of thumb and index finger means “good” in America. In Japan it represents money while in Portugal and Brazil such gesticulation is considered indecent. When communicating with an Englishman or a Spaniard, don’t be surprised when they whack their forehead. It is their way of publicly showing that they are content with themselves. In Germany they show indignation towards an interlocutor with this move.

As we can see, differences are evident in almost everything. There are thousands of them and they all won’t fit a single guide book or sound advice collection…

In almost every large Ukrainian city – especially if it is “spoiled with number of educational institutions  there is a small district called campus among locals. Dormitories, dining halls, libraries, university buildings here and there and dark-skinned guys that exchange currency. This is the way students of Ukrainian high educational institutions earn a bit on the side and manage to obtain aspired degree at the same time. After that some of them stay and others go back home  to Africa. Now, what do people on the sunniest continent do, including those who return to native shores as bankers with dimplomas?

Because of different reasons, mainly due to its travel population and size, Istanbul is perceived by the majority of tourists, even by those who had been to Turkey, as the capital of this country even though it is verily Ankara. We are going to talk about this city that is so Turkish and international simultaneously.

American Detroit was until recently known as the automotive capital. But nowadays it is more often than not mentioned in the context of decline and population outflow. Outlook decided to figure out why ghost cities emerge.

Small ethnic groupshave been always interesting for scientists and artists, who sought inspiration in their lifestyle. The Bajau Sea Gypsies who formally can be correlated with Malaysia, are one of the most popular ethnic groups today.

Can you imagine a German who is late? Or a Japanese who sits in the office during working hours and twiddles his thumbs? Or at least a Spaniard who beavers away from morning till night? Hardly – and it is all courtesy of stereotypes and clichés that are stuck to one people or another. Today we not only talk about them – we defy them.

Grinding away at their books to master basics of algebra and geometry, or memorizing years of monarchs’ reign skimming history textbooks is commonplace for schoolchildren all over the world while getting ready for a test in cybersecurity or boasting to have “A”s in beekeeping is strange at the vey least. Hereafter we are going to touch upon these and other unusual classes taught in foreign schools.

Ambidextrous people demonstrate the unique brain abilities confirming latent human genius. Interestingly, those abilities can be trained by hands. The recent studies show that there are more people born equally skilled with either upper limb than we think, and perhaps you are one of them.

Words we vocalize every day seem ordinary and familiar to us. We even get the feeling that, for instance, the word “chauffeur” existed forever. There is only this slight nuance: cars themselves re a little over hundred years old… Hence, things aren’t that simple when it comes to our day-to-day vocabulary. Well then, why not recollect interesting stories of other words origin?

OUTLOOK Project, bringing together peoples and nations, strives to makes this world more kind and its representatives more attentive to each other. We sincerely believe that mutual respect is a key to dealing with many conflicts, troubles and misunderstandings of the world of today.

United Nations Organization was created in order to cease global violence, protect human rights and eradicate poverty. On October, 24, 1945 founding states ratified the treaty on creation of global body that acquired the name the UN.

Thanks to of the Jewish Forum of Ukraine and personally to the President Arkady Monastyrski OUTLOOK visited Berlin and visited places connected with terrible crimes of the Holocaust. And today, when in Ukraine are preparing for the 75th anniversary of the Babi Yar tragedy, we have decided to recall the places still storing traces of the Holocaust.

Modern infrastructure, soft fiscal and legal systems made Luxembourg one of the most attractive countries for business of every kind.
It took the duchy less than half a century to achieve this wealth level.

There is a reason why they say that even goods things are good to an extent – even art served in a certain manner may not just bring joy and help experience catharsis but also break psyche down. On how exactly beauty serves as an instrument of torture – read below in Outlook.

They are referred to differently in every other place but are loved, probably, in the same way everywhere. Sure enough, we talk about money or more precisely their “second names” because alongside official ones currencies have common nicknames.

Fresh and crunchy pita breads, prayerful synagogues, kosher restaurants and sweetest people with payot and kind eyes - to see this picture, do not fly to Israel, just drop into Paris based district called the Marais, the story about which adds to our articles devoted to national ghettos.

OUTLOOK continues series of features "..." and this time we were lucky to witness how a crew of New Police Patrol is getting ready for duty. So, today we suggest you figure out how morning of these courageous people in charge of our safety begins.

The capital of Egypt is a metropolis with 17 million of population and one of population’s highest densities on the globe. In order to have at least some kind of roof over one’s head, some people have to live at railway stations, some acquire status of refugees and others even have to settle at cemeteries. About half a million of the Cairene who live among toms read further in Outlook!

Forty six million people left their homes. Almost naked, barefoot and hungry they set on looking for a new shelter. Persecuted with fear, desperation and sicknesses they left for the unknown, for the mercy of strange not always hospitable people. Unfortunately, this is a part of modern world history…

Indignation due to prohibition to show at working place wearing jeans is the last thing that bothers employees of one of firms in the USA who have to perform opera singing warm-ups every three hours… And how about wearing office footwear in the shape of Dutch wooden clogs like working people in Taiwan do? Outlook came up with a selection of weird corporate rules.